Hospital Visits
by The Blue Penguin
Summary: A peek into one of Sanada and Yanagi's visits to Yukimura in the hospital.


"**Hospital Visits"**

Disclaimers: Prince of Tennis is not mine.

Summary: A peek into one of Sanada and Yanagi's visits to Yukimura in the hospital.

Author's Notes: This was supposed to be a drabble, but it turned out too long. Well, it doesn't really have a clear storyline either, so let's keep it as a drabble, ne?

This is my first attempt at a Rikkai-centric fic, so if anyone notices any mistakes, please feel free to point them out and I'll gladly correct them.

The title and summary were done in the spur of the moment, so pardon the lack of creativity in them.

Anyway, on to the story!

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The usual silent atmosphere hovered over the seventh floor of Kanai General Hospital, particularly in one Room 710 where a certain boy lay slumbering peacefully in his fifth day of confinement. The stillness of the hallway was broken by three sets of footsteps – the soft clip clop of heels against the white tiled floor followed by two pairs of squeaky rubber shoes, as a nurse led two visitors down the corridor towards the said room. Stopping by the door, she turned the knob and peeked inside slightly.

"He hasn't woken up yet," she said, turning her gaze to the two junior high school boys behind her, donning winter coats above their school uniforms and carrying large tennis bags.

"We won't take long."

The nurse nodded with a small smile, as she pushed open the door and ushered them inside. "Very well."

Yanagi Renji bowed courteously before stepping inside. "Arigatou gozaimasu."

Sanada Genichirou followed suit, lowering the brim of his black cap ever-so-slightly to cover his eyes. The nurse nodded in acknowledgement and quietly closed the door behind her, leaving the two visitors to watch upon the patient they were visiting.

Yanagi set his bag on the floor next to the door and removed his coat, which he placed on top of his bag. He gingerly walked towards the bedside table to fetch the empty container sitting amongst the myriad of medicine bottles. He made his way to the bathroom and filled half of the container with tap water and then proceeded to retrieve the bouquet of yellow daisies he set down on the same table. He removed the flowers from brown packaging paper, which he crumpled and threw in the trashcan underneath the table, and neatly arranged the daisies in the jar. The vibrant yellow hue was a welcome addition of color in the dull white room.

Sanada set his tennis bag beside Yanagi's and made his way to the bed. His brown eyes surveyed Yukimura's sleeping figure. The captain's face was paler than usual, and he had grown considerably thin in the five days he had stayed in the hospital. Sanada watched Yukimura's chest rise and fall at every intake of air; deep and even breaths escaped through his partly-opened lips. He pulled the white blankets up to Yukimura's chest and gently brushed away the strands of blue hair that fell over his eyes.

Yanagi drew the curtains aside, allowing a clear view of the bright blue sky from the lonely confines of the room. He drew a chair beside the bed and sat down. Sanada moved towards the window and peered at the sights outside.

"This part of the building has a nice view of the park 500 meters away," Yanagi said as he clasped his hands together while casting his eyes onto Yukimura.

"Ah," was Sanada's nonchalant response. He could see the park clearly from the window – the brown benches, figures of kids running, big slides and a row of swings. He turned to face the bed; his back rested against the wall beside the window and his arms were folded over his chest.

The brief second of silence that followed was comfortable in all sense – both boys were lost in their own thoughts as their eyes surveyed each slight movement made by their close friend and captain in his sleep: a finger twitching here, a slight shift of his position to the left, a brief squinting of the eyes as he turned his head to the side.

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The hinges of the door creaked slightly and both Sanada and Yanagi looked up to see Yukimura Kaoru enter the room, with a blue gym bag slung over her shoulder. A small smile graced her tired facial features as she recognized the two presences in the room.

"Sanada-kun, Yanagi-kun. It's nice to see you again."

Yanagi stood up and Sanada fixed the brim of his cap. Both boys bowed their heads slightly in greeting.

Kaoru set the bag towards the small couch on the other side of the room and walked towards the bed. She touched her son's cheek lightly and brushed away all the stray hair that fell over his face. He seemed to sleeping very deeply, as she could tell from the way his chest gradually rose and fell through every deep breath. A relieved smile came to her lips.

Her brown eyes suddenly gazed upon the daisies sitting on the bedside table. "These are lovely flowers," she observed as she brushed her index finger against the petals of one of the fully-bloomed daisies. She turned to the boy sitting next to the table. "Did you bring them, Yanagi-kun?"

Yanagi managed a small nod. "Yes, but it's from Akaya. He said he picked it from his garden."

Kaoru chucked amusedly. "Really now? Kirihara-kun picked flowers for Sei-chan? That's very nice of him. Thank him for me, would you?"

A faint smile crossed Yanagi's usually unexpressive features. "I will, Yukimura-san."

"Sei-chan is feeling a lot better now, or so he says," Kaoru said as she walked back to the couch. Zipping the gym bag open, she brought out freshly-laundered and neatly folded clothes and other necessary supplies like toiletries, and a few books. She put these in the built-in closet located near the door. She closed the sliding door of the closet after placing everything inside.

"And he also says you don't have to visit him everyday." She directed a smile at Sanada, who looked away, feeling slightly embarrassed. Kaoru stifled a chuckle.

"Sei-chan doesn't want to worry you so much. It might affect your games."

"He shouldn't worry about worrying us," Sanada mumbled as he folded his arms once again. "He should just worry about getting well." He looked like he was ready to scold Yukimura if ever the sleeping boy awoke at that instant.

"I don't think Seiichi would be too thrilled with the idea of you reprimanding him for worrying about us, Genichirou," Yanagi noted, an amused smile playing on his lips.

Sanada scowled. True, he wanted to tell Yukimura to stop thinking of matters regarding the team and to just concentrate on his treatment. But a vice-captain reprimanding a captain was unheard of, and Sanada did not even want to be the first to try, because although Yukimura would smile that gentle smile of his, the foreboding feeling that it will be followed by an order to run an unreasonable number of laps would always ring true.

"I'll do the reprimanding for you, Sanada-kun," Kaoru said with a grin as Sanada was about to retort at Yanagi's statement. "After all, a boy should listen to his mother, ne?"

The first hint of a smile and relief crossed Sanada's usual stoic features. Yanagi stifled his amused chuckle.

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"Yukimura-san, I think we should be going now," Yanagi said as stood up from his seat and strode towards the door. He put on his winter coat and slung his tennis bag over his right shoulder. Sanada did the same, and his hand hovered over the door knob.

Kaoru looked up from arranging the medicine bottles on the bedside table. "I brought some packed snacks here. Would you like to eat for a while before going?"

Both boys shook their heads. "Arigatou, Yukimura-san. But dinner would already be waiting for me when I get home," Yanagi reasoned, giving her an apologetic smile.

Kaoru turned to Sanada but he too, politely refused. She shook her head, smiling slightly, as she sat down the chair beside the bed.

"I see. Well, you boys take care on the way home, okay?"

"We will. Please tell Seiichi to get well soon."

Sanada opened the door and both he and Yanagi stepped out, as they took one last look at Yukimura Kaoru and her sleeping son.

"Yes, I will. Thank you for visiting him."

The door closed with a soft thud and silence once again hovered over Room 710. Kaoru sat back on the chair and briefly set her gaze on the yellow daisies adorning the bedside table.

"You have such nice friends, Seiichi," she mumbled with a smile, as she gently ran her fingers through her son's hair.

Though sleeping, Yukimura's lips slightly curved upward after his mother's words.

Apparently, he seemed to think so, too.

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Author's notes: Makes sense? No? Yeah, I think so too. This is what happens when BluPenguin tries to write a random idea in a coherent manner in the wee hours of the morning instead of doing her homework and studying for her midterm exams. This piece also gives you an idea of how many more working brain cells I have left. Judging from the end product, you could say, not too many, ne? xD

I have no idea what Yukimura's mother's name is, so I just invented one.

07/04/07: Removed "saa", because it's not supposed to be there. Thanks to Ketchup-san for pointing that out.

Feedback is greatly appreciated, as always. Thank you for reading!


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